News Updates

City Begins Preserve Improvements

Construction is about to begin on improvements to the Lake Calavera Preserve, one of the city’s largest areas of protected habitat and nature trails, located in the northeastern part of Carlsbad. The work, which includes building a restroom for trail users and the replacement of non-native invasive plant species with native plants, will require some intermittent trail closures.

The city will begin removing non-native invasive Mexican fan palms and Brazilian pepper trees in the northeast part of the preserve on Monday, Sept. 19. The removal is expected to take about five weeks, followed by three weeks of work to put in native plants, including western sycamore, western cottonwood, coast live oak, California blackberry, red willow and Mexican elderberry. All work will be done under the direction of a professional biologist.

“Many people don’t realize that palm trees are not native to this area and can actually harm the local environment by pushing out native plants needed for the ecosystem to survive,” said Sherri Howard, associate engineer for the City of Carlsbad.

In mid-November, the city will begin construction of a single stall, unisex restroom on the north side of the Calavera Dam. The restroom project will include a drinking fountain, bike rack and the design will coordinate with an existing pump station nearby. The restroom should be open to the public in December.

“The restroom and drinking fountain will be a welcome addition to this well-used trail system,” said Kasia Trojanowska, park planner. “These are the two improvements most requested by the public.”

The city will spend approximately $600,000 for these improvements.

The preserve is part of the city’s Habitat Management Plan, which is designed to preserve and protect sensitive biological resources within the city while allowing for continued economic development.

The Calavera Dam provides flood control for the area by keeping the Lake Calavera Reservoir contained.

For more information about the project, including planned trail closures, please visit www.carlsbadca.gov/trails or call 760-602-2780.

You are about to leave the City of Carlsbad's official website

This link is provided as a public service.
The City of Carlsbad is not responsible for information provided by linked sites, and such links do not constitute an endorsement of the listed entities. The city is not responsible for the content accessible through these links; and under no circumstances will the City of Carlsbad be held liable to any person who may choose to rely on any information or content provided by the listed entity, including, its products and/or services.